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January 17, birthdays for Michelle Obama, Dwyane Wade, Zooey Deschanel

Brooklyn Today

January 17, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
First Lady Michelle Obama celebrates her birthday today. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
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Greetings, Brooklyn.  Today is the 17th day of the year.

Notable people born on this day include Michelle Obama and Dwyane Wade, among others.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published an article titled “Thief Finds the Lord in Dannemora.”

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The article focused on a former Brooklyn thief who found religion during his time in jail.

“Back in 1931 he held up the Brooklyn Civic Club, 597 Bedford Ave., and relieved two of its members of $45. With him on that robbery were three others, two of whom were freed by a commutation of sentence several years ago,” the Eagle reported.

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actor NAVEEN ANDREWS, who was born in 1969; former soccer player CUAUHTÉMOC BLANCO, who was born in 1973; actor JIM CARREY, who was born in 1962; dancer, choreographer, instructor and TV personality MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY, who was born in 1980; actress ZOOEY DESCHANEL, who was born in 1980; actor JAMES EARL JONES, who was born in 1931; attorney and former head of the Federal Communications Commission NEWTON MINOW, who was born in 1926; former first lady MICHELLE OBAMA, who was born in 1964; talk show host MAURY POVICH, who was born in 1939; basketball player DWYANE WADE, who was born in 1982; and actress BETTY WHITE, who was born in 1922.

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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1706. The elder statesman of the American Revolution and the oldest signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was also a scientist, diplomat, author, printer, publisher, philosopher, philanthropist and self-made, self-educated man. Franklin was also the author, printer and publisher of Poor Richard’s Almanack (1733–‘58). Born in Boston, he died in Philadelphia in 1790. His birthday is commemorated each year by the Poor Richard Club of Philadelphia with graveside observance.

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MUHAMMAD ALI WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1942. Born Cassius Clay, boxing’s “The Greatest” lived up to his nickname. He won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Rome Olympics and won the world heavyweight title three times (1964, 1974, 1978). Ali was also nicknamed the “Louisville Lip”— always ready with a quote-worthy quip or challenge. He converted to Islam in 1964 (under Malcolm X’s mentorship) and dropped his “slave name” for that of Muhammad Ali. Later, as a conscientious objector, he refused to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam War — he was arrested and stripped of his title. In a battle that went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971, Ali saw his conviction overturned. His refusal to bow to the establishment, his civil rights beliefs and leadership and his outsized personality made him one of the great iconic figures — in sports or otherwise — of the 20th century. After battling Parkinson’s disease (diagnosed in 1984) for 30 years, Ali died in Arizona in 2016.

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AL CAPONE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1899. Gangster Alphonse “Scarface” Capone was born in Brooklyn to immigrants from Naples, Italy. Capone dominated organized crime in Chicago throughout the Prohibition era. Targeted by the “Untouchables” after 1929’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (which he allegedly ordered), Capone was finally imprisoned on tax evasion charges. He died in 1947 in Miami, after suffering from syphilis.

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THE BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) WILL HOST “BOOK TALK: Battle for Bed-Stuy: The Long War on Poverty in New York City” tonight at 6:30 p.m. Historian and teacher Michael Woodsworth will reveal how innovative community activism in the historic neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant empowered its residents and helped to catalyze urban reform policies in the 1950s and ‘60s and on his new book “Battle for Bed-Stuy: The Long War on Poverty in New York City.”

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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.

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“I may be a senior, but so what? I’m still hot.” — actress Betty White, who was born on this day in 1922

 


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